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VENICE – Habitat for Humanity of South Sarasota County will build its first home within the Venice city limits, following a unanimous vote by the City Council on Tuesday to allow the nonprofit to spend $400,000 on the home.
That sum represents a little less than half of the $850,000 Habitat received from the September 2023 sale of a two-acre parcel to TI Investors of Revello Apartments LLC.
In contrast, Habitat paid $120,000 for slightly less than a quarter of an acre at 1316 Mango Ave., the site of the new home.
Council Member Ron Smith said he was surprised at the overall cost of the Habitat home.
“That took me aback a little bit,” he said. “Is the only thing unusual about this the lot price?”
Camryn Malaney, Habitat’s new director of construction, responded that typically land cost is between $10,000 and $15,000 – with most of the homes built either in South Venice or the city of North Port.
Habitat for Humanity of South Sarasota County CEO Christina McCauley added that in the past eight years, the nonprofit’s construction costs has gone up about $100,000 – and that’s with price breaks from suppliers, volunteer labor and the 300 hours of sweat equity that homeowners contribute.
“The cost of the home is never what our homeowners are going to pay,” McCauley said. “We take out a very very large silent second which then goes away at the end of their loan – that is where our fundraising department comes in and you’ll see us throwing galas and golf tournaments and things like that, so we have to work really hard to come up with the rest of that funding for each home.
“Right now our homes are costing us $260,000 to build and none of our homeowners are going to pay that,” she continued.
Habitat homeowners pay off their homes through a 30-year zero percent mortgage. Most of those are in the upper $100,000 range to lower $200,000 range, based on family size and income level.
The home in Venice will be a block-frame house with three bedrooms, two bathrooms and roughly 1,500 square feet with a garage and a back yard.
“It’s truly a beautiful home that – we say all the time – that we would live in as the ones building it,” Malaney said.
The sale on the lot is scheduled to close as soon as March 25. It typically takes between six and seven months after groundbreaking to complete Habitat home.
“We're excited to do this within city limits because obviously a giant portion of our donors do come from the city of Venice and I just think this will be something that will be really motivational and exciting for them to see it a little closer to where they’re at,” McCauley said. “It’s usually a little out of our price range to build within the city limits, so we’re just excited to have this opportunity to potentially move into a new area here.”
Manatee County Habitat For Humanity Working To Bring Affordable Housing (Video)
A shark researcher who was featured in Shark Week turned herself in to Bradenton Police officers on Tuesday after stealing more than $300,000 meant for shark research, police officials said.
Detectives began investigating Christine Bedore, 44, in November after the American Elasmobranch Society, based in Bradenton, discovered she was stealing from the nonprofit’s checking and savings accounts, police officials said. Bedore served as the treasurer of the AES since 2018.
Financial subpoenas show that for more than five years, the Georgia Southern University biology professor had made numerous electronic transfers and used money for medical procedures, a car, pet insurance, travel and more.
Financial documents also show that she made unauthorized transactions for laboratory specimens and equipment, police officials said.
Bedore has been charged with felony scheming to defraud in excess of $50,000 and criminal use of personal identification in excess of $100,000.
Detectives are continuing to investigate the case.
Gov. Ron DeSantis is telling the nation that people in his state shouldn’t rely on the state-run insurer of last resort, raising new questions about Citizens Property Insurance ahead of what is expected to be an active hurricane season.
“It is not solvent and we can’t have millions of people on that because if a storm hits, it’s going to cause problems for the state,” the second-term Republican Governor said on CNBC’s “Last Call.”
The Governor’s comments are particularly interesting as they were in the middle of a rumination about private insurers bringing new capital into the state, in which he claimed that “about 30% of those policies from Citizens” taken out by “new private insurance (companies) will actually be able to offer lower rates to those people.” That suggests roughly 70% of people are paying more since the take out of Citizens’ policies.
Scrutiny on Citizens has come from Washington in recent months.
The U.S. Senate Budget Committee has probed the DeSantis administration about the company’s ability to handle underwriting losses, including the question of whether the state insurer might need a federal bailout.
“In light of the state’s acknowledgement of Citizens’ potential insolvency and the likelihood that it would be both politically and economically unfeasible for Citizens to attempt to recoup tens of billions of dollars in losses from policyholders across Florida, the Committee is concerned that Citizens and the state of Florida would turn to the federal government to bail them out. Given the potential magnitude of Citizens’ losses, such a bailout request could put substantial strain on the federal budget,” wrote Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island.
Meanwhile, forecasters foretell problems, given the Atlantic already has heat more typical of May than February. Accuweather predicts the possibility of a “blockbuster” storm season, especially given the fading El Nino pattern that insulated Florida from storms in 2023.
AccuWeather will release its full 2024 Atlantic hurricane season forecast to business customers and the public in March.
Justin Mathews started cultivating his connection with wildlife when he became a master falconer at the tender age of 16. These days, the Manatee County, Florida, native mostly rescues wildlife, such as birds with plastic bags caught in their beaks or turtles that have collided with motorcars.
Last time he counted them in 2021, Matthews says that he conducted more than 380 wildlife rescues.
“But I expect them to pick up soon,” he says.
That’s because since 2021 Manatee County and the rest of Florida has been experiencing a growth spurt that has turned rural small towns throughout the state into suburbia. From 2010 to 2021, the county’s population grew by 33% to 429,000. In December 2022, the agency declared Florida to be the fastest growing state in the nation.
All that growth has created massive development pressure that has spilled from the county’s population center on the Gulf Coast farther east into the traditionally rural interior of the county. The growth has made millionaires of farmers and others who sold acres of land to developers, who in turn built residential neighborhoods on ground that previously contained the habitat of the native wildlife.
It was also the home of the people who prized the natural environment and elbowroom.
Their habitat is shrinking, too, according to Gail Straight, who with her husband, Ed, founded Wildlife, Inc. a non-profit wildlife rescue and rehabilitation organization located on Anna Maria Island near Bradenton, Florida.
Not only has the growth seen the wholesale development of formerly open spaces, it has also become home to newcomers who have an entirely different attitude about sharing the neighborhood with the local wildlife.
Organic grocery chain Whole Foods Market announced its first location in Bradenton recently, adding another option for shoppers to the growing number of stores in the region.
Whole Foods is known nationally for its fresh and local produce, organic ingredients and high-quality items. The Austin, Texas-based grocer first opened in the early 1980s and has grown in popularity over the past few decades, first coming to the Florida market in 1995 with a 30,000-square-foot natural food store in Plantation.
Whole Foods currently has 33 stores throughout the Sunshine State, including one in downtown Sarasota and one in the University Town Center area.
The newest Florida Whole Foods store is slated to open at the Market Place at Heritage Harbour Shopping Center just off Interstate 75 and State Road 64 in Manatee County.
Currently, the closest Whole Foods Market to Manatee County is a store in 40,000 square feet of space at 5298 University Parkway in Sarasota County which opened in the corridor between Manatee and Sarasota counties in 2018.
The Marketplace at Heritage Harbour is currently anchored by a Costco Wholesale, also the first in Manatee County, which opened back in 2019. According to developer Edgewood Properties' website, Heritage Harbor has space for almost 500,000 square feet of retail and luxury residential units and is slated to construct and open a 150,000-square-foot Target store in the same plaza.
A Whole Foods marketing representative confirmed the opening of a Bradenton location via email but couldn't provide a construction timeline or additional details. Upon its opening, the Heritage Harbor Whole Foods Market will be the third location in the Sarasota-Manatee region.
Sarasota Mayor Liz Alpert has announced a reelection campaign Tuesday for what she said would be her third and likely final term as a city commissioner.
"I think the message is one of working on and continuing the progress that we've made in the city," Alpert told the Herald-Tribune of her re-election bid. "I think in the last four years we've made a lot of strides, as far as getting things done."
The two biggest issues Alpert has heard about from constituents and voters may be unsurprising for those tracking Sarasota politics: Affordable housing and growth. The mayor envisions a balance of the two issues by encouraging increased housing density and development in downtown Sarasota and along the busy travel corridors.
The twice-elected commissioner said strategic zoning would also lead to the opportunity to expand public transportation, which she envisions as more frequent bus routes, more trolleys, and an expansion of electric scooter rentals and dedicated bike lanes.
Alpert, who practices family law at her own firm in Sarasota, was first elected to District Two’s City Commission seat in 2015. She was later named to a one-year term as Sarasota’s mayor by her fellow commissioners. In 2020, she was reelected to her commission seat and in 2023 was again voted to serve as mayor, her current position.
For those partaking in any sailing this spring or summer, a recent report from getmyboat.com, a boat rental marketplace, narrowed down the top boating cities around Florida.
Getmyboat analyzed recent Florida boat rental data on its platform, determining the city that boat owners register their boats in through their profiles on the website. Data was curated to exclude outliers for hourly and total trip rates, while rental types were categorized.
Here's Getmyboat's list of the top 10 best cities in Florida for boating and the average price to rent a boat in each one:
As the number of measles cases climbs in Florida, with a total of nine reported in Broward and Polk counties, Sarasota and Manatee schools said they're monitoring the spread and are working with local health departments to be prepared in case it surfaces here.
The Sarasota County School District said it has advised all its schools to "be vigilant" in looking for signs of symptoms and illness. Symptoms of measles include high fever, cough, runny nose, watery eyes and a rash appearing several days after the onset of symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
If a case is spotted in Sarasota Schools, the school affected would take direction from the Florida Department of Health, as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic, district spokesperson Kelsey Whealy said.
The CDC recommends that those infected with measles should isolate for four days after the day they develop a rash and that that unvaccinated children exposed to measles be isolated for three weeks.
However, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo last week contradicted federal and medical professional guidelines saying the parents and guardians at the Broward school where the outbreak surfaced could decide whether to send their children back to school. Ladapo concluded that children’s attendance was up to parents or guardians because of the “high immunity rate” and the burden of healthy children missing school, but he said the state's recommendation could change.
New measles outbreak in Florida worries health experts in Sarasota
The Florida Department of Health has confirmed 10 current cases of measles in Florida and the newest case is just north of the Suncoast in Polk County.
Officials say an adult contracted it from previous travel.
The other nine cases are in Broward County and involve children 14-years-old and younger. Seven of those cases stem specifically from an elementary school in Weston, Florida.
Health experts say the only way to beat the disease is through the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) Vaccine. They recommend all children get the first dose when they are between 12 and 14 months, and the second dose between four and six years old. One dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective.
“If you are unvaccinated, this virus is much more contagious than any other respiratory virus that we know,” said Manuel Gordillo, the Director of Infection Prevention at Sarasota Memorial Hospital. “If it gets introduced to the community, and goes through unvaccinated populations, nine out of 10 unvaccinated people are going to acquire the virus.”
Gordillo also warns that Sarasota County is not in the best position for an outbreak.
“In Sarasota, we have one of the lowest vaccinations rates in all of the state of Florida,” said Gordillo.
Sarasota County Schools reported that out of their 46,726 students, 2,954 (6.3%) are unvaccinated due to religious or medical exemptions.
The virus is highly contagious and in some rare cases, it can be fatal. It is contracted when an infected person sneezes or coughs, and that bacteria can linger in the air for up to two hours afterwards.
A $75,000 donation from State Farm to the Florida Sheriff’s Association will go toward providing an education course to teenage drivers across the state, including Sarasota and Manatee counties.
Serving more than 42 counties, the Teen Driver Challenge is the largest commercial driving school in Florida and is offered to teens at no charge. Instructors are law enforcement officers with accreditation from the Florida Division of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
Students are required to have a Florida Learner’s Permit or a valid Florida Operator’s License and have use of a car to participate. Classes consist of lectures and driving exercises, but they don’t serve as a supplemental driving course. The one-day program teaches defensive driving by covering topics like aggressive driving and road rage, off-road recovery, evasive maneuvers, emergency breaking and more.
To sign up for upcoming classes on March 2 or April 13, visit the Manatee County or Sarasota County Sherriff’s Office. Classes are added on a rolling basis.
Teens are involved three times as many fatality crashes as other drivers, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The Teen Driver Challenge was created in 2007 to lower the high crash and fatality rate of young drivers. State Farm has granted $985,000 to the program since 2011.
The Helen C. Schwieder Fund of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County awarded a $25,000 grant to the Humane Society of Sarasota to support extraordinary medical care for shelter animals.
HSSC is the area’s premier no-kill shelter, saving more than 3,000 homeless cats and dogs each year.
The annual grant cycle through Community Foundation donated funds to thirteen local animal welfare organizations with nearly $160,000 grants awarded this year.
In the past four years more than $721,000 in Animal Welfare Grants have been invested to local nonprofit organization to help animals in Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte, and DeSoto counties.
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